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An Unlikely Alliance
The Grand Tournament The sun sat high in the sky as the tournament grounds stood, cluttered with ninja. They gathered in Konohagakure directly next to the great scar. It had been 15 years since the scar that spanned most of the region appeared, drastically changing the landscape and the positions of power in the world. It had created a great lake-like river that allowed immense amounts of new trade. Amegakure and Takigakure had both become superpowers, benefitted by the extreme amount of of oceanic trade they could now purse. In turn Konohagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure lost a bit of power due to the fact that their positions as middlemen for these villages were now obsolete. Kirigakure got it worst of all now that ocean trade was so readily available the ships they used to let others send goods on were no more. With the new powers new Daimyo came into power as well. The newer ones were more ruthless, scrappy, and deranged. While they liked their wealth they longed for the days where combat was afoot at all times. They weren't stupid though, they didn't want to plunge the world into chaos again. This mindset eventually led to the creation of The Grand Tournament, or so it was called. Held every five years this tournament was happening for only the second time since its creation but it was chock full of shinobi from all over.They competed in different brackets based on their rank and if they lived through the qualifiers. For the qualifiers were not open to public eye unlike the spectacle of the true tournament. The qualifiers were still separated by rank but set within many different environments. They all held the same goal in the end though, get through the three days trek and murder as many along the way as possible. It was no holds barred, kill off your competition before you compete. The Daimyo saw it as a way of culling the weak as well. Of course no one besides those who'd lived through the event knew about this, they all saw it as a much grander ninja exam of sorts. There was one final detail that made the tournament quite special. Participants were grouped into teams of three randomly, with anyone from anywhere. ---- Henchou Nezame stood around a flag off to the side. It fluttered wildly in the wind as the breeze swept it around. He the first of his assigned team to actually reach their assigned meeting area. "I'm probably the first to even get here, why does everyone have to be so damn late all the time." He muttered to himself as adjusted the collar around his neck. Henchou was an average looking boy for his age. His body was in great shape and his face was well shaped with a mysterious allure to it. His hair and eyes were soot black, thankfully the people in Kiri didn't ask him if he was an Uchiha seven times a second like every one of the Konoha participants. He slumped up against a tree and pulled out a kunai before beginning to fiddle with it. It was a unique shape, with the bottom edges of the blade extending all the way to the end of the hilt and creating a guard of sorts. The blade was also a bit larger and longer than standard, with very precise chipping along the blade. It was almost as if it was on purpose. People could signal her arrival before actually spying her. She sang lustfully, her voice carrying on the wind as she sang about nothing in particular. Once spotted, she was nearly impossible to ignore. Relatively tall at about 5'9, what distinguished her from the masses was the oversized gatling gun that she casually held in a single hand, leaning the rest on her shoulder. It was a creation of hers, having been made with the helping hand of the young woman's bloodline. To the call the intimidating weapon and Mitsuko's carefree laugh the epitome of loose cannon would not be far from the truth. Nevertheless, she stopping caring about people's observations a while ago. Hence the reason for her slow saunter as she scanned the crowd for her supposed partners. Eventually, she would find one, standing with a flag. Mitsuko would wave as she changed her trajectory. "What's up?" she asked, her voice boisterous as she drove one of end of her favorite accessory into the ground, causing a small area to crack. Her electric blue gaze sparked with amusement. "You're Mitsuko I presume, you're late by 14 minutes." Henchou spoke softly. He placed his kunai back at his hip as he gazed at the girl. She was quite cute with her gold colored hair and sparkling blue eyes. She seemed like the type of person who attended the tournament for their own enjoyment, a bubbly person who was loud and proud. "How did I end up with a person like this on my team." He thought to himself behind his stoic gaze. He wasn't here to play games, he was here to win. He was here to show that he could be of use to the Hunter Nin of Kiri. Chūnin pay just wasn't cutting it anymore, his foster parents needed more to get by ever since the economic slump. "Other teams have already split off to coordinate and now we're two thirds of the way there." He sighed softly. "I hope that weapon of yours is more on target than you are." He muttered. "Oh dearie me..only 14 minutes? I was aiming for 30....I need to slow down," she pondered aloud before grinning. "That's me alright, Mitsuko Hashimoto." Her voice held the pride that he observed. Mitsu then took the time to look him over, finding his appearance both brooding and dull. "So he's one of those people...what a drag." she noted to herself. "Dude, you have the expression of a person who just found out their leftovers were stolen," she commented before poking him. "Jeez, such a worrywart, it's a miracle you've made it through life like that. At this rate you'll have permanent wrinkles before you turn 20." The girl snickered before poking him again. "Don't worry, this baby is made to crush the competition, designed her myself in fact." The young woman smirked. "They won't know what hit them." The first time she poked him he gritted his teeth and moved his face away. He didn't like to be touched or poked or interacted with much in general. His cooperativeness was probably the very thing that made him fail his application for the hunters so hard the first time. He toughed it out though and let out a sarcastic laugh at her comment. The second time she poked him though he slapped her hand away, stepping away from her quickly. "Don't fucking touch me." He snapped at her, narrowing his eyes. "I hope our other teammate isn't as damn annoying as you are." With every work from his mouth he knew he was getting further from his goal of actually establishing good teamwork. However he also knew that he wasn't going to be poked by some peppy bitch from Iwagakure. Mitsuko tsked. "And you have a potty mouth and terrible disposition to with it. You're Henchou right? That means you're from Kiri, no wonder your such a drag. All of you people be depressed af with your misty existence and wetland life. If you keep swearing like that I'll toss a bar of soap into your mouth. No one needs to you rattle off every curse you know," she said, dismissing his sarcasm and snap-happy attitude as if swatting a fly. It truly meant nothing to her. "I do wonder what the second teammate will be like though. Maybe friendly? Chivalrous? Harmonic and thoughtful? Hmm." Mitsu placed her gun on the ground as she sat, comfortable for the moment as she began deciphering the possibilities. "Also, one note of warning, don't slow me down. I'd hate for anything to happen to someone who clearly hasn't experienced the joys of life yet." "You know as well as I do that Kiri is in an economic slump because the rest of you decided you didn't need our ships anymore. So don't tell me it's cause of mist when you know damn well what it is. Trust me I'd eat a bar of soap if it'd make things any better." He huffed, glaring at her as she sat. "I think It'll be quite fine if you're 30 minutes behind me at all times. Prancing around with your shiny pocket rocket there. Though I don't know how you fit that in your "pocket" exactly." He added, turing his gaze towards the crowd. "As long as he's anything that's not you I think I'll be just dandy. Maybe even the type who just doesn't speak or annoy anyone if we're lucky." Mitsuko smirked. "Dependency on a single form of trade is dangerous you know. Iwa learned that the hard way, cause we're hard-headed people. We figured it out after trial and error," she nodded sagely, tossing an infuriating grin his way as he glared at her. "Piss-poor attitudes result in nothing but misery you know. Besides, you look a little hangry. Skipped breakfast this morning? Don't you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" Mitsu lapsed into silence for a bit as she pondered what she knew about Kirigakure. Most of it was hearsay and gossip, but almost none of it was positive. "So, is it true that there was a bloodthirsty chick in your village?" "There's a lot of bloodthirsty people in our village, that's our history isn't it. That and water based trade." He sneered at her. Just as he was about to open his mouth to spout more vile dialogue they both heard a voice from behind them. "Heyo you must be Mitsuko and Henchou, How'zit hanging I'm Daichi Choudai. I'm from Takigakure and I'm an earth release user." He spoke in an extremely calm voice. He was a tall man who looked a bit older than the two, around 23. His shaggy black hair hung over his face but his emerald eyes peered through the darkness, much like those of a cat. "Did you guys know that the earth here is perfect for growing vegetables?" He asked in his smooth voice as he patted the dirt with his palm. Henchou stood with his mouth agape, looking at their third member. "Oh great so now we have some sort of rich hippe on our hands. Peace and trees and shit." He muttered as he dramatically waved his hands. Sighing before slumping against the ree once again. "Exactly, you claim its just the economy but I honestly think its the weather and environment. You just breed monsters as a part of your economic trade with the world. I wonder if that will change anytime soon," she added thoughtfully. "I'm Mitsuko alright. And yes, I did notice that. Tis a nice place for living in general. Ignore the brooding brat there, he's lived the life of a hoe and doesn't want to plow anymore," she snickered as Henchou fell into another bout of melodramatics. "An Earth Release user? I have a feeling we'll get along just fine then. I'm from Iwagakure so you could say earth is our cup of tea," Mitsuko extended a hand to the figure in the form of a handshake. Daichi bypassed her extended hand and pulled her into a hug. He attempted to grab Henchou but his hand was slapped away. "He's just misguided I'm sure, if he could just sit in silence with nature for a while I'm sure he'd see that the earth is with him too. He has no need to be so hostile on a wonderful day such as this." He laughed jubilantly as he released Mitsuko from the hug and turned to gaze at the two. "So what's the plan team? Are we going to train together or hang out and bond?" "We're going to train and make sure that our personalities don't make us piss poor fighters, you rich bag of moss." Henchou replied angrily. "I think there's a training field about 50 yards from here where we can attempt to sync up." He sighed as he began to walk away. "Sounds excellent my feisty friend." Daichi laughed. "I hope my skills can be useful to you." Mitsuko was surprised when the hug took place, but like everything else she took it in stride, warmly reciprocating the gesture. After they separated she laughed, finding Henchou's vitriol amusing. "Sounds like a plan, now if you can manage to turn that fire into something tangible we'll be in business," she replied, lengthening her strides to catch up to the irritable Hen. She would then decide that it was the perfect name for him seeing as he poked and prodded at everything, even open wounds. "So Hen, what's your primary skillset?" The young woman then spotted the field in question, walking forward before taking a seat at its edge. "Now, let's see what you can do. Careful now, you don't want to divulge everything, it might cause you to combust," Mitsu continued, a smirk playing at the edge of her lips. "Call me Hen again and I'll melt your damn face off." Henchou growled as they reached the training ground. Daichi attempted to pat him on the shoulder but was pushed away by Henchou. "Can you stop trying to touch me you dirt lover." He snapped at him. Daichi simply nodded with a smile and sat on the grass beside Mitsuko. Henchou looked to the two of them and drew his oddly shaped kunai blade from before. He let out a breath as he waved his hand over the blade as wind whirled around it, creating an intricate blade of wind. He then walked over to a tree and slashed horizontally, cleanly cutting through the large plant. The top half collapsed the the ground as he shrugged. "I'm a wind user, cut stuff, mostly attack oriented and a close range fighter." "Wow that's really cool Henchou." Daichi added with a smile. "I'll be the sword to your shield." He laughed as he stood up and raised his hands as a wall of earth surrounded Henchou, who promptly slashed it in half. "I'm an earth release user as I've said before." For the first time Henchou smiled. "Heh you might be a damn hippe but you make an excellent point." He smirked. "Oi Mitsuko you got anything to add to this sword and shield combo or are you too busy playing with you metal toy?" He shouted to the girl. "So nice of you to ask....Hen. You couldn't melt my face off if someone handed you the manual," she retorted, her infuriating grin returning in force. Standing up, she pointed her gatling gun at the tree-line. Then she unloaded. The trees in the crossfire were obliterated one by one. Once the blast was finished, she blew away the steam from the top of her gun. "I'm a long-range pro. Steel Release has been my cup of tea since day one, and finding ammunition for it was a breeze," she said before generating a thin layer of armor. "Why be a sword or a shield when you can have both?" Mitsuko then dissipated the armor before leaning on her gun casually. "So you're our archer, perfect." Henchou stated, now seeming in a slightly better mood. "I think our best formation is you either hidden or in the back Mitsuko, your steel should give us suppressive fire as well as a good long range surprise if you can hide yourself. Daichi, you take every hit you can for me or Mitsuko, her specifically if we're both in a bad spot. Her cover fire is more vital than strong close range, plus I think we can all do close quarters combat to some extent. If you aren't covering us try and stop their attacks or get some long range hits on them with earth spikes or something. I'll stay in the front and draw as much fire as I can. My offense is a pretty good defense as well so It shouldn't be too hard for me to keep the pressure up." He finished. For an irate young man, he was a surprisingly good tactician. "I'll do whatever I can to shield you two." Daichi nodded running a hand through his frizzy black hair. "Careful now, your face might crack from the pressure," she teased, noting Hen's mood had begun to improve, "as handy as I am, I can't put faces back together." Mitsuko sat once more. "Are you trying to be a planning virtuoso? Who knew you had it in you?" She decided to think about what she had learned in the process, finding the facts and figures present amusing when compared with the personally quirks. "So we have an emo, a hippie, and the beautiful girl. What a combination," she thought while resting her gatling gun across her lap. It was a comfortable place to be for the time being. "So what now? We've shown some of our cards and have a rudimentary plan in place. Are we going to test it for effectiveness and begin adjusting for any weaknesses?" Despite her happy go lucky and teasing/mocking temperament, Mitsuko could focus when she wanted to. Provided the motivation was right. A Mysterious Foe The three had been training in the woods for a couple hours now, their bodies were tired but they had developed a very strong team system. "I think that was pretty good you two." Henchou spoke as the wind faded from his blade. "You were right about me being a little closer to the action, I can get some better hits in from here." Daichi added. "I liked the part where you three thought you were actually a solid team a voice boomed from the sidelines. Henchou turned to see a lanky man sneering at them. He looked to be about 25 with spiked orange hair and a goatee. An Iwagakure headband was tied tightly around his left arm. He wore quite casual ninja clothing but had what looked like a large rectangle of metal fastened to his back. "You kids think you're hot shit or something?" The man laughed. "It seems to be working for the most part. Dare I say we might actually be clicking. Who knew?" Mitsuko noted as she stretched before leaning against a nearby tree. It was then that she heard a condescending voice. "And who the hell are you carrot-head? We're hotter than hot shit, we're an inferno you hoe." she said in clap-back fashion. It was clear that she had absolutely no filter and was more than happy to continue a verbal confrontation. "I like the part where you sit on your ass and somehow think you have the authority to critique us tramp." "Oh why thank you dearie, I do enjoy my vitamin rich hair." He responded, quite sincerely. "I'm Haretsu from Iwagakure. I think as someone who's been in this a bit longer than you three I have a little bit of knowledge when it comes to teamwork." "Well mind your own fucking business you old man, you think you can beat us ip or something?" Henchou roared, jabbing his finger towards the man. "Mitsuko, Henchou, please stop antagonizing this man. He seems a lot more experienced than we are." Daichi warned, to no avail. "Oh you wanna play do you, fine by me bitches." He laughed as he reached into two bags on either side of his person and tossed small black and white pellets towards them. They clattered to the ground harmlessly all around the battlefield. and Henchou leaned to pick one up. "This is fucking birdseed." He shouted as he waved his blade angrily at Haretsu. Only to receive a warning shout from Daichi and quickly ducked as a hawk swooped over him. He looked to the sky to see it filled with birds or various shapes and sizes, circling the three. "Yup the bird seed was to make you drop your guard while the birds arrive. Good luck taking so many out of the sky before they cut you up." Haretsu laughed as the birds dive bombed the three. "You are a hoe of the lowest order," Mitsuko retorted before flipping him off with both fingers. If there was one thing that pissed her off it was people who thought they were somehow the bee's knees. It was the one trigger that could ruin her day and turn a happy go lucky girl into a raging bitch. "I didn't know Iwa had perpetual assholes like you; who am I kidding? Of course I knew, I'm glad we've never crossed paths until now otherwise I would have beat your ass," she snapped. However, what infuriated her more was the stupid pellets he spread about. As if that would accomplish anything. About to cuss him out even more, she was silenced by the sound of wingbeats. A lot of them. "Fuck," Mitsu cursed, reforming her weapon as they dived down. There was something therapeutic about holding a gatling gun. "Hunting season!" she roared, before unloading the gun on the bird squadron. Maybe it was overkill, but she was past the point of caring. As the bullets flew into the sky, brining down bird after bird Haretsu simply laughed as he snapped his fingers. In a split second every single seed exploded, it encompassed almost the entire battlefield in fire as the explosions ripped the earth apart. "Checkmate." Haretsu stated with a smile. "Fuucckkk" Henchou screamed as he was blown into the air by the explosion. He crashed to the scarred ground, ears ringing, eyes blurry. He hadn't even been able to react to the almost instantaneous blast by this man. "Not bad." He coughed under his breath. As he attempted to shakily stand. A small pillar of earth rose up by him, courtesy of Daichi who was still lying on the ground, his left side heavily singed. "Thanks man" He coughed as he turned back to Haretsu who was still grinning from ear to ear. Their entire plan foiled before they even started by simple deception, yet it was done so expertly. He'd been leading them into the trap since he announced himself. Daichi propped himself up on a pillar of earth and looked back through the smoke. "Mitsuko you okay?." He shouted as he extended a pillar of earth near where here body landed. God she hated him. So very much. Then again, she despised most people from her village. They were all hard-asses that loved using underhanded measures; why else would they have hired the Akatsuki to do their dirty work? Being blasted sky high was further insult to injury as she landed with a crash on the ground, leaving a small crater. Part of her heard something snap as the rest of her body cracked from impact. She swore, standing up on her own without assistance even as pain shot through her frame. Ok, maybe she was one of those hard-asses. "I'm fine. Bitch ass motherfucker, I'll tan your hide," Mitsuko spat as she stumbled before righting herself with the pole. Turns out it was a nice thing to have. "Thanks," she said, still miffed. "I'm gonna fucking stab you in the goddamn skull you swine." Henchou roared as he stumbled forwards, drawing his blade as he rushed towards Haretsu. He ducked low as the man move slightly, kicking a couple pebbles at him that he dodged with a wide berth. "Daichi aid me here. Mitsuko, weapon, use now." He yelled as jumped, his feet landing on a diagonal pillar of earth that propelled him towards Haretsu. "You really are naive." Haretsu laughed as placed his right hand in front of the blade and released a large explosion, knocking Henchou back to the ground. The older man grinned as he formed his hands into a shrug with a devilish smile. "You're gonna have to come at me with more than that if you want to win." He laughed as Henchou dug his hands into the ground. Mitsuko spat on the ground as she saw Haretsu fly back. "So you're one of those bitch ass corp fuckers???" she asked. While she didn't care for most of her homeland's things, it was impossible to avoid the notoriety of the Explosion Corps. They were a point of personal pride for Iwa. She reformed her gun, changing it's size so that it would be longer and wider, packing more power. "You want more? You got it hoe!!!" she roared as she fired at will, targeting Haretsu and the area around him to limit his escape trajectory. "Oh you're no fun dear." Haretsu stated as quickly swung the large metal rectangle into the ground in front of him. The incoming volley of bullets slammed into it but ricocheted away. He the slipped his left hand through an attached strap and held his right behind him before blasting explosion after explosion from it. The force propelled him forwards as his shield tanked the bullets. He approached her quick with a grim grin on his face. However as he closed in a wall erected itself in from of him, and he smashed right through it. Then another appeared, again he crush it. They kept coming up until one finally curved at the correct angle to launch him into the air. "Never made it to the explosion corps, guy who ran it had a personal vendetta against me. I was skilled but he wouldn't recognize it. That's why I'm here, to show the top brass my stuff." "Fuck, I need more firepower," she snapped before watching wall after wall erect itself in front of her. "Thanks for the coverage." Watching him launched into the air, she saw it as an opportunity. "The hell with the bullet brigade," locking her weapon on him, Mitsuko unleashed one fiery salvo, composed of more potent projectiles. "What did you do? Fuck him over? Or does he not like your carrot hair?" came her quippy response as she looked to move the needle forward. Haretsu swung the shield in front of the bullets and placed his right hand against the back of it. As the bullets flew towards him multiple explosions came from the front of the shield. The force slowed the bullets down enough to cause the initial volley to clatter against his shield harmlessly. The other bullets missed as the explosion also propelled him backwards, not before he tossed another handful of birdseed to the ground. "My dad hates his and his hates mine. So naturally we were taught to hate each other. Plus I think my hair makes him nauseous, the man hates vegetables." He laughed as he touched down on the ground. "Got you, you bitch." Henchou laughed as the ground beneath Haretsu caved in as he touched down, sending him falling below the earth. As he fell four swirling tubes of wind shot out of the ground not to far away. "Daichi get him now!" "Affirmative." Daichi nodded as he flew through more hand signs, causing the hole around Haretsu to begin to cave in. "Mitsuko please attack now" He called out. "That's terrible. Doesn't he know that vegetables are good for him? They keep you spry and fit. Then again, he's probably an old hag just like you. Oh well, there's always next time," she retorted, infuriated by the fact that her bullets were evaded. "As if you need to tell me what to do," she said, changing the setup of her gun once more. "Bullet time is over hoe, one pile of eat shit coming your wayyyyy" With that, she unloaded a cannon into the quickly caving in space. Haretsu was quick to react to the onslaught from the three. He took no time in flipping to place his metal shield in between the closing earth walls, creating a platform. He stood with a grin on his face as he stared down the incoming ball of scorching metal. "Explosion Release: Song of Storms." He stated flatly as he held his right hand towards the incoming projectile. It was then that the air erupted in light. It was as if a ring of pure energy had erupted from his hand, coating the air in shimmering orange. As the blinding orange cleared, Harestsu stood with the metal ball in hand. He tossed the ball aside as it exploded into dust. "I think I'm about done with you brats." He spoke coldly as he reached for the headband tied around his left arm. "Haretsu that's enough" A voice shouted from the trees as Haretsu turned to look. The man was wrapped in purple silk robes with his black hair in a knot. "These kids don't need you harassing them, you've proven whatever point you wanted to make by now." He sighed, a Sunagakure headband hung around his neck like a scarf. "Go to hell you shitty sand fuck." Henchou roared, aiming his blade at the man. "I'd stop if I were you, all three of you already have birdseed on your person." He replied. "And I'm about done with you bitch," came yet another clapback aimed at carrot-head. It infuriated her that he continued to slap aside her attacks as if they meant nothing. "Birdseed? The hell does that have to do with anything?" Mitsuko snapped. She checked her person anyway though. Sure enough, there were bits and pieces of birdseed all over. It was then that she recalled what they contained. "Fucking piece of shit." While reckless, she wasn't stupid, not entirely anyway. Part of her wondered if they were sensitive to the touch. Gingerly, she attempted to remove one. The birdseed did not explode but simply fell from her. "Take it as a sign of sympathy that I'm not blowing you all to kingdom come right now." Haretsu snapped. "I suppose I'll leave with you then, Seihantai." He retrieved his metal shield as he spoke before leaping to meet his ally at the edge of the battle field. "You kids better keep the training going or you won't make it very far." "What you think I'm fucking done with you." Henchou roared as he charged the man with his blade drawn. He was stopped midair by some unknown force and slammed into the ground though, knocking him out cold. "Henchou!" Daichi shouted as he carefully approached him, careful to show that he was simply moving to retrieve his comrade. "He's alright, just knocked out." Seihantai replied. "I pray that you three don't run into us in the qualifier, for your own sake." "As if I need your sympathy," she snapped after she dusted herself off. Mitsuko remained in a piss-poor mood, something she thought that she was good at avoiding. Then again, seeing a fellow Iwa-nin was bound to leave her in a pissy state of mind. For some reason the young woman refused to get along with her fellow villagers. She sighed as the group left. "I hate their asshat temperament but they're probably right. If we fight them now we'd be severely fucked. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to go die with a whimper. If shit hits the fan it will be in a blaze of glory," Mitsuko said, moving to the unconscious Henchou after the two had left. "That Haretsu guy was really mean but he was a damn good fighter." Daichi sighed. "I'm almost thankful that other guy showed up. He sighed as he tossed Henchou over his shoulder with relative ease. "I'll check him out once we grab some medical supplies, that other guy got him good and I don't know how." He spoke, his voice faltering. "That's what worries me most Mitsuko. One person on this team took all three of us and the other took out Henchou in one blow. They have a third one that we know nothing about currently but I'd assume he's as strong as the other two. I we meet them in that forest we'll most likely die." It was a grim but true worry. "Damn, are you a debbie downer or something? Don't get mad, get even. It's how I've lived my life and so for it's made things happen. We have to get our ass into training, pull out all of the stops and shit to be as close to their level as possible. Once that's taken care of, we read the hell of them. Figure out what makes them and their powers tick before exploiting it. Afterwards we beat their asses. See? Simple. We wake up this hot-headed mess and start planning because we both know damn well that we'll meet those hoes sooner or later." Mitsuko responded as she begin walking. "Still, I don't like bitchass carrothead's attitude. Dude thinks he's the bee-knees just because someone blocked him from the Explosion Corps. Fuck off with that high-horse, woe is me shit." "I'm an optimist and a realist." He sighed as he continued forwards. "We have about a week before we head into that forest and I don't know if we can do it. Learning their weaknesses seems to be a lost cause, the tournament doesn't give us that information. Our best bet is just perfecting our formation to the point where we can deal with what they dish out." He exclaimed. "I think our saving grace is that we have most of Haretsu's style figured out. That shield is his wall and those seeds are his traps. However I noticed something we could make use of, he seems to only create explosions from his right arm. That may be a weakness we can capitalize on." "See? You're already using that head of yours. Maybe I'll see if I can do something about that shield of his; it's an annoying thing that needs to be put to rest sooner or later. Otherwise we won't be able to put in some hits on him. Plus, we need to at least have some idea of what the guy did. I don't like it, but it sure as hell makes this whole competition a lot more interesting," she added, continuing her walk. "I could probably displace it with a partial rising of earth, allowing your shots to bypass it." Daichi replied as the two continued on, laughing and brainstorming for the coming fight as the sun set on their day of hard work. Elsewhere Haretsu and his team also sat, going over their own plans for the tournament and the preliminaries. It was sure to be a hell of a thrilling battle for them all. "I could probably displace it with a partial rising of earth, allowing your shots to bypass it." Daichi replied as the two continued on, laughing and brainstorming for the coming fight as the sun set on their day of hard work. Elsewhere Haretsu and his team also sat, going over their own plans for the tournament and the preliminaries. It was sure to be a hell of a thrilling battle for them all. Epilogue This is my fourth letter to you, my nephew. As you recall, I told you that this journey of mine was one of self discovery...a rest from life, as I said. But it isn't. It's one of truth. Forgive my deception but I felt it was necessary. I'm on a journey that's possibly related to your father's fate; no not possibly—it ''is related to his fate. For these past two decades I have doubted Kenta's death, and something always felt off to me. So I have spent these years investigating, digging up loose ends, and there have been many. This is the culmination of my efforts, and I have proof that Kenta's circumstances aren't as simple as suspected. There are other goons on my trail now, and it seems like I haven't been the only one to have been sniffing around all these years. For some reason, Kenta had big enemies, and I don't know when or how he got them. Everything is a haze; but I'm being hunted down by Gangetsu Maeda's men. I will get back to you in a few days, but if I don't...you must be vigilant. Enemies are coming.'' Kaworu Kanata had read that letter more than he could count. Two weeks had passed without word, but the words in the letter from his uncle were ominous. He folded the letter and slid it across his desk, thumping his thin fingers on the table. "Maeda..." He muttered to himself, contemplating the high chance that his uncle had been captured...or killed by the notorious Sunagakure thug. All of it didn't make sense. The letter shook everything he believed to the very foundations. As a lone ray of sunshine peaked through his closed windows and illuminated the desk of his dark room, muddled thoughts floated through his head. He hadn't consulted anyone, mainly because he expected the response to be the same. His mother, his grandmother, his father, the village chief, the village. They all said his father had died in the infamous village attack. So what was this? When had his father rubbed an international warlord the wrong way? Why was his uncle being hunted on a journey of truth? What lies or truths had been unearthed at this point? All these questions haunted him. Across the table lay an almost rusted headband. The symbol of Takigakure, forehead protector that had belonged to his father. Given to him by a friend of his father's just more than ten years earlier. But before he unearthed these truths, only one outcome truly mattered to him: finding his uncle, and clawing him out of whatever blurry mess he was embroiled in. These burning questions would wait, they were unimportant. He scooped the forehead protector with his left hand, his right clasping for the hilt of his blade on the floor. In three strides he had exited the room. As far as he was concerned, his father was dead, the details would matter only later. A member of his family was in danger, that's all that mattered at the moment. Enemies were coming.